Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi
by bRokEN PuPPETxx
Summary: Remember Me Always...The past that Kirika tried so hard to forget is lost to the void and all those who knew it once are now gone.
1. Chapitre 1

**Disclaimer:** Noir and its characters do not belong to me. I love them dearly, but unfortunately they are not mine. I cry every night because of that, trust me. And to anyone who thought that last sentence was serious…I shun you. SHUN! Now I don't need to put up a disclaimer for every chapter, like I used to do a long, long, long, long time ago.

**Note:** I'm studying French, but I'm not very good at it. So if anything I'm saying is incorrect, I'd really appreciate someone telling me so that I can fix it. Merci.

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 1-si vous m'avez aimé jamais**

_Chapter 1-if you ever loved me_

A tall woman wearing a black patch over her right eye stepped out from the shadows, holding the hand of a young blonde girl. They were dressed as if they were part of a church, but from what church is anyone's guess. "Yumura, it is time you fulfilled your promise," said the woman, though she glanced nervously at the child that clung to her.

The man and woman that stood opposite the strange pair in the dimly lit room exchanged nervous glances. A young boy clung to the woman's dress and a baby cried from the curve of her arms. "Please, don't take our children from us!" the woman shouted, tears streaming down her face. Her husband placed a would-be soothing hand on her shoulder but she twisted out of his reach. "Please!"

The woman with the eye patch looked nervously once again at the little girl who stood at her side with her hands clasped around the woman's. "Altena…" the woman said, as if trying to convince her of something. But the blond girl shook her head and glared sternly at the family standing before them. Lucky children, protected by their mother and father, believing that people like that could actually protect them.

A pocket watch sat on the table behind them, silver with two maidens engraved on the front. "The Soldats stated their price when you first made your agreement," this time it was the little girl who spoke rather than the intimidating woman she was with. Young though the girl was, her voice was mature and commanding, she would one day become very powerful, someone not to be trifled with. "It is time you paid your dues." Altena grinned inwardly. Yes, time to pay up. Time to destroy the happy family, to bring reality crashing down on them. The world wasn't full of rainbows and frolicking through flowers. It was filled with violence, war, destruction, hatred, disaster…

Altena looked at the one-eyed woman standing next to her, their hands still clasped together, and nodded. The woman stepped forward and took the child out of the woman's arms, "Kirika!" She reached out for her daughter, as the one-eyed woman placed the child in Altena's outstretched arms. The baby did not cry, did not scream. She just stared silently into the eyes of her captor.

"Kirika!" the woman cried again as she stepped forward towards the two maidens dressed in church clothing. The woman with the eye-patch snapped her fingers and more women donned in the same clothing stepped out from the shadows, from seemingly nowhere. Blades shone in their hands and reflected the dim light. The woman collapsed onto the ground and bowed her dark head so that she could not watch as some unknown strangers took her only daughter away from her; her flesh and blood, gone while her husband and son watched, not even trying to stop them.

"Altena," the one-eyed woman said as they stood outside the large mansion, the baby still staring silently at them, "why are you doing this?"

"Because someone needs to bear the sins of the world because the world cannot bear them herself," she replied, walking forward and not bothering to look back at the gloomy building behind them. That was one of the three saplings, they only needed one more, the third was expendable. Now it was just a matter of waiting, waiting to see who the next of the three children would be.

--

It was a long wait, but Altena was a patient girl, dangerously patient. For four years she waited and in the mean time, she trained the child in her possession to serve the purpose that was her entire reason for being at the Manor. Four years later, Altena sat alone in her office behind her oak desk while the sun shone through the window. A plant sat dying on her windowsill; she did not have the time to take care of it.

Kirika, the blond woman knew, was outside training. That was what the child did, that was what she lived for, that was her entire existence now. Altena smiled at the thought when a brunette came bursting through her office door. "She's here!" said the excitable newcomer.

Had it been anyone besides Altena, there would have been an exclamation of joy and a loud clatter as someone jumped up and the chair fell behind them, but as things were Altena pushed her chair back away from the desk and she slowly stood up. Elegantly, deliberately--that was the word--all of the young blonde's movements were slow and deliberate. Nothing was ever rushed; it was another of the many things that made her such a dangerous woman.

"Ah, the second of our saplings," she said kindly when she caught sight of a young girl with deep red hair clinging to her father's coat while the man tried to shake her off.

He finally managed to get his daughter away from him, "Take her," he said gruffly. Every family was different. This poor girl, living with a family that couldn't wait to get rid of her…Altena watched the girl sadly as she looked sadly at her father, her eyes begging him to take her back, to tell her what she had done wrong.

"Bring Kirika," Altena said to the woman beside her. She herself was fairly young, much younger than everyone else in the Soldats organization, but already more powerful than most. She turned to the new girl and smiled kindly, "Welcome, dear one. What is your name?"

The girl looking imploringly at her father once more before locking her eyes onto Altena's and almost immediately she seemed soothed. The young blonde had that affect on people; intimidating yet calming. "Chloe," the red-haired girl asked meekly. The second of the saplings. Altena refrained with much difficulty, and the aid of years of practice, from showing any signs of her true glee.

"So, will you take her?" the man asked impatiently. He took a step back when his eyes caught Altena's gaze. What a dangerous young woman.

But the conversation was interrupted before it even began by the arrival of the brunette with a five-year old girl in tow, Kirika. Chloe's eyes immediately widened with excitement at the sight of the other girl, who merely regarded them through her dark eyes, as if debating whether they were worthy to continue living or not. "Thank you for bringing her to us," Altena said sweetly to the man, though inside her mind was seething with cruel comments to shoot at him like a barrage of arrows.

But she refrained from doing so, and the man left in something of a hurry. "Come, dear one," the blonde young woman said kindly as she led Chloe further into the Manor. "Let me show you around," she grasped the red-headed girl's hand and led her down the hallway but her purple eyes met Kirika's dark, mysterious ones. Without a word between them, the younger girl nodded and stole out of the magnificent building, pulling a sword from a crest on the wall as she left.

It didn't take long for her to catch up with the cruel man that so eagerly left his daughter behind. Altena couldn't stand people like that; in fact, she loathed them with a passion that she would never allow anyone to ever see. Before the man knew what was even going on, Kirika ran the sword through his heart and walked away, swinging the blade that now dripped droplets of fresh red blood onto the ground. Back and forth, making indents in the ground as it got closer to the bottom of its pendulum, for the sword was much too long for the little girl to use, or so most people would think.

She smiled grimly as she handed the sword to the first woman she met up with in the Manor before heading out back to the training grounds. But instead of meeting up with Altena, as the dark-haired girl had been hoping, she caught sight of the strange newcomer, Chloe. "Are you Kirika?" she asked quietly.

The five-year-old hadn't been asked a personal question in such a long time, everyone in the Manor already knew her so well. "Yes," was all she replied.

"I'm Chloe," the red-head said, her voice still slightly subdued as if she was afraid of Kirika suddenly yelling at her for reasons unknown. What kind of family had she just come from? "Altena told me that we're almost the same age…do you wanna play?" Before the Japanese girl could say anything, Chloe had grabbed her hand and was dragging her through the garden, while a soft relieved laughter floated behind her through the breeze.

Meanwhile, Altena watched the girls through her window while her fingers caressed the dead leaves of a dying plant. She smiled and cleanly snapped the thin plant in half while two similar thin trees sat in tiny pots on her desk. Three saplings, only two of them were required, the third was disposable…


	2. Chapitre 2

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 2-la mort des Bouquets**

_Chapter 2-the death of the Bouquets_

The next day Altena once again sat in the chair behind her large oak desk, the two remaining plants now stood on either side of her desk, symmetry. Kirika and Chloe stood in front of her, but while the older girl stood tall and cool in the center of the room, the newcomer cowered slightly behind her, using the Japanese girl as a shield. "The Bouquets went back on their promise," Altena said. Her voice was cool and commanding but beneath it was an undercurrent of warmth. Chloe shuddered involuntarily but the other two girls gave her no notice, they were too lost in the current as it pulled them somewhere unknown.

The blonde woman stood up and a drawer slid open, she pulled out a shiny black gun and held it up for both girls to see. The red-head gasped but Kirika showed no sign of surprise and the newcomer wondered why. Why was this girl so cold toward everything? Already when she had first met Kirika, Chloe had decided that she would thaw this girl's cold exterior to find the person that must exist somewhere deep, deep down.

Altena stepped around the desk and handed the gun to Kirika as if it was some kind of precious item that she was passing down through generations in her family. As if the weapon was some kind of symbol, the meaning of which flew straight past Chloe's head. She thought the other two had forgotten her, they had barely said a word between them, but the blond young woman finally turned to the nervous youngest. "Dear one," she said kindly, "you are 'Le Vrai Noir,' the true Noir. This is what you are…" the gun glinted in Kirika's hand as she studied it carefully, like an artist studies their tools before beginning a painting, making sure that everything is exactly the way it should be.

There was something in the Japanese girl's face that entranced Chloe, drew her in and made her lost to the things Altena was saying to her. Her eyes, her expression was loving in a way that made the younger girl's heart skip a beat. There, that was the look that she wanted to bring out. There really was someone underneath all that ice…

"You are assassins and tonight you will go with Kirika when she kills the Bouquets. Hopefully you will see what it means to be the black maidens." There was no clearer sign of dismissal than the tone in the blonde girl's voice. Nothing could have been clearer as Chloe scrambled out the door and Kirika strolled purposefully out, holding the gun in her hand with care.

The red-head looked at her companion, "Are you really going to kill someone?"

A strange, almost satanic smile, spread across the other girl's lips. "Possibly many someones," it was the most she had said to the new girl since Chloe's arrival. And it was probably the most disturbing thing she had said as well. Five years old and already a killer, the thought caused chills to run down the red-head's spine.

"I don't think I'd really want to see that…"

Kirika all but glared at the other girl, "Altena said that you must, so you must." No questions asked. The girl's undying, unquestionable loyalty to her elder instilled a sort of respect in Chloe, respect and also a sort of curious fear. She wanted to be that dedicated and in a way she wasn't ready for it. Without another word, Kirika led the way out back to a large open space. A target stood so far away from them that Chloe had some difficulty seeing the red bull's eye.

But the older girl seemed to have no trouble whatsoever. She pulled out the gun, her gaze falling on its cool, dark metal once, before shooting at it. The red-head could hear the sound of the impact as the bullets crashed into the target and instinct told her that each one had hit the red, a thought that once again caused uncomfortable chills to run down her spine.

The two girls passed the afternoon that way. Kirika practiced shooting at the target for most of the time, stopping every once in a while to study the other girl's expression. Something about Chloe had already ingratiated herself to older of the two. By the time the sun had almost finished its descent below the horizon, the Japanese girl was making her way back to the Manor. "Should we tell Altena?" Chloe asked worriedly. She had never before been in such a situation, nor had she ever expected to be placed in it.

Kirika shook her head, "No," she said, "but we should go around the front. The town will be waiting to see us off," for such a young girl she seemed so mature, Chloe admired that and it inspired a sense of awe in her. Just as the dark-haired girl had predicted, the small town, if it could have been called even that, waited to greet them and see them off. They seemed delighted not only to see Kirika but Chloe as well, though they had never met her before.

It took a long time to reach their destination. A long time and many different ways ranging from private transportation by Altena to similarly private transportation by way of the Soldats. But eventually the two girls got there and stared up at the large mansion that stood before them, obviously the home of the obscenely rich and powerful. Chloe thought back for a moment on the family that left her behind and their cold, unwelcoming mansion. The difference between the air surrounding the two buildings was shocking but the red-head refrained from saying anything, with much difficulty. She wanted to be mature, like her companion.

The two snuck in easily. At least, Kirika snuck in easily, she had to help Chloe through. Once again, the Japanese girl brought a sense of awe into the newcomer's heart. She was amazing, weaving silently through the mansions maze-like corridors as if she had been there a thousand times already.

When the girls finally got to a large room, Kirika placed her finger to her lips and motioned for Chloe to remain hidden where she was. Immediately, the red-head jumped behind a wall and poked her head around the corner so that she could see what would happen when Kirika slid open the glass door that led to the balcony they had ended up on. The older girl stepped inside, gun held in front of her, ready.

A lovely couple and their young son sat around a small round table. The woman was beautiful and the man and his son were both handsome though the adults held an air of aristocracy to them. They were important, the way they held themselves said that much. A silver pocket watch with two maidens engraved on the cover lay on the table. It was just like the one Chloe had seen her father sneak into his pocket many times when he did not want her seeing it, but the girl had sharp eyes.

As if they knew what Kirika was there for, the man snatched the watch from the table and tried to make block his son and wife from view. One shot…two and he fell dead onto the tiled floor, blood pooling around him. Kirika's eyes met the woman's and she said something that Chloe could not hear from her hiding spot before the child pulled the trigger again and again, placing two bullets each in the mother and her son. The one shot and the second as security, just in case.

Chloe smiled wide and gasped in excitement. It was beautiful. How easily life could be ended like that, with just two simple bangs and then blood seeped through the wounds like pools of evil waiting to be purged form the body. It was beautiful as the moonlight shone through the windows and the door that was the red-head's hiding spot. Kirika standing there, her eyes narrowed with not even a hint of remorse behind them, the wind blowing her hair and one of the straps to her overalls dangling. It was the most beautiful thing Chloe had ever seen. So, this was what it meant to be Noir.

Just as Kirika was lowering her weapon, the door at the other end of the hallway creaked open and a young girl, not much older than Kirika and Chloe, stared wide-eyed at the scene laid out in front of her as her blue eyes, so much like the ones of the woman the assassin had just slain, darted from her father's body to her brother's then to her mother's. The stuffed bear dropped to the ground and a tall, handsome young man appeared at her side in the doorway. He caught sight of Kirika and pulled the young blue-eyed girl away.

As if nothing at all had happened, the dark-haired girl stepped around the ever-growing pools of blood and gently took the silver pocket watch from the man's open hand. She pocketed the thing and walked back to where she had left Chloe. "Let's go back. Altena will be happy," she said quietly, leading the red-head back to the Manor by means of the ways they had come.

_Just as quietly as they appeared, they disappeared. Just as quickly as they killed, they were gone. Two assassins who used the veil of night as their protection, no one lived to tell the tale. No one ever saw them and lived to tell the tale. Two maidens who killed under the cover of the night; the black maidens, Noir…_


	3. Chapitre 3

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 3-les fusils et les couteaux**

_Chapter 3-guns and knives_

Chloe held the gun uncomfortably with both hands, the recoil was too strong for either her or Kirika to handle one-handed. So far, she had been playing around with the thing for a month and she had hardly made any progress at all. Not like the older girl who looked so completely at ease with the weapon resting in her hand, like it was an extension of herself…

The red-head aimed and shot again, completely missing the target and hitting a tree somewhere in the distance. A flock of birds sprang into the air when the bullet impacted with a bang. "Stupid…" she muttered to herself, not aware that Kirika and Altena were standing behind her. The Japanese girl stepped up to stand beside the younger girl.

"It isn't really that hard," the dark-haired child said solemnly. She did everything solemnly, everything was so serious with her. Chloe, on the other hand, was not that way at all. Oh, she could be serious if need be, but she was usually exactly opposite in personality to Kirika. They balanced each other out, complemented each other. They were, after all, destined to become Le Vrai Noir…two halves of a whole. "You're too tense, relax."

Since Chloe had arrived at the Manor, there had been a noticeable change in Kirika's demeanor. She was a little more open, a little less serious, a little more outgoing. She was always daring, there was no need to say she was more daring, that quality was already engraved in the Japanese girl's personality. The red-head looked at the other girl for a moment before closing her eyes and trying to relax her body. Immediately, an image of that day flashed before her eyes.

The day that she watched Kirika kill the Bouquets. It was so beautiful, she remembered exactly what the assassin had looked like as she had done the job and Chloe tried to emulate it. She fired again, at least this time she was closer to the bull's eye. She actually managed to hit the target.

Altena gently placed her hands on the girls' shoulders. "You're both improving, you're doing so well," she said, her voice just as gentle as her touch. "Come, dear ones, you need to eat. And there are people that want to meet you." The younger girls exchanged glances. Chloe had not been around too long, and Kirika had no clue who those people might be. But they both obediently went inside, not even realizing that the blond girl was still standing outside.

The girl gave an odd smile, sweet but something about it was unnerving, as if it was too sweet to be real, evil in a way. "Soon they'll see the benefit of the return of the Noir," she said to herself as she followed her charges back into the Manor.

Kirika and Chloe were told by the other women to dress up. They bathed together and when they both got out two identical sets of clothing were laid out on a bed. The women, dressed like all the others in the Manor, pulled the gray and black tank tops and skirts onto the little girls and led them down the hall to the drawing room where the guests were apparently waiting. Though both girls were nervous as the women left them and tall, dark, imposing men that sat around the fire scrutinized them, only Chloe showed it. The Japanese girl stood tall and stared stoically back but the red-head shifted nervously, she knew enough by that time not to look away. She was going to be Noir, someday they were going to have to pay their respect to her.

"There are my girls," Kirika and Chloe hadn't noticed Altena until she spoke up from her place in one of the larger, more comfortable chairs. "This is Kirika," she waved an arm in the Japanese girl's direction, "and Chloe," she pointed at the red-head. "What do you think of them so far?" A trace of a smirk flickered across her face, but no one seemed to notice it, or if they did they paid it no mind. After all, it was best not to go against Altena, not when she had so much support as things stood. And she was still so young; the men shuddered to think of what she would be like when she was older.

One of the men pulled a cigar out of his mouth as he lounged in his recliner, "These little girls are going to be Noir? That one looks too afraid to move and the other girl looks too weak to do anything." That was it. Unable to control her temper as of yet, at least not in the way Kirika and Altena did, Chloe's hand clenched around a butter knife that lay in a tea tray. In a flash, the red-head had thrown the knife directly at the man who had insulted her and her friend.

Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, it missed. But it shut the man up, and for the rest of the uncomfortable two hours they remained he and his companions continued to shoot worried glances in the direction of the two girls. Altena smiled and nodded her head at Chloe but offered no other acknowledgement, but the red-head glowed with pride. She had finally done something right, as to what that something was she still had no idea. But apparently Kirika did, because she kept stealing glances at her friend as well.

The next day, all three girls were in Altena's office, the blonde sitting behind her desk, watching the other two serenely through her mystifying amethyst eyes. "It looks as though I was wrong in my choice of weapon for you, dear one," she addressed Chloe. Although the oldest called both her juniors 'dear one' she usually refrained from calling Kirika so. "We have a set of knives and swords downstairs that we can start you on," the red-head's eyes glinted at the words, "and Kirika, we'll start a different kind of training for you…"

The Japanese girl nodded, apparently she understood. When she and Chloe walked out of Altena's office and into the cold, dimly lit hallway, the younger girl asked, "What did she mean, 'different kind of training'? Isn't the stuff you do really hard already, Kirika?"

But the dark-haired girl shrugged, apparently she did not want to delve further into the conversation. That itself served as her answer to the question. Yes, training was already difficult, and not even Kirika could readily think about the level of difficulty of this new kind of training.


	4. Chapitre 4

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 4-la mienne, la tienne, et la nôtre**

_Chapter 4-mine, yours, and ours_

The two girls were playing in the garden when an elegant blonde made her way toward them, her calm and slightly unnerving amethyst eyes glinting in the noon-day light. Instantly, the younger girls stopped what they were doing and stood by the side of the dirt path that Altena was gliding down. That was the way the girl walked, as if she was gliding. Smooth, a sign of the smooth cunning hidden deep in her personality. "You don't need to do that," she said with a kind smile as she bent down to hug them both.

Kirika went rigid with surprise while Chloe grinned and wrapped both her arms around the older woman. "What are you doing out here, Altena?" she asked when the three of them had finally pulled away.

Once again, the blonde girl smiled, but this time it was more mysterious than anything else. Unnerving in the way that everything she did seemed to be, "Is it not almost your birthday, dear one?" she had gotten into the habit of calling Chloe by that name. It made the younger girl feel more comfortable around her, easier to manipulate. She should have done the same with Kirika but the thought hadn't occurred to her at the time and by now it was already too late.

"I almost forgot about that! How did you know?"

"I found out," Altena replied, not wanting to delve further into that specific topic for fear that the younger girl would discover her…less than acceptable sources. If she found out, Chloe might lose respect, and that respect made it easier to manipulate the girl without her knowing. But Kirika, Kirika was one to watch out for. Those cold, cool eyes that seemed to see through the master plan. They would not, though, not if Altena had anything to say about it. "But it looks as though Kirika wants to say something to you, I'll be inside."

The children watched as Altena turned her back on them and walked away, once the ends of her white robes were out of sight behind the Manor door, the red-head turned her attention to her best, and only, friend. "What's a birthday?" the other girl asked uncomfortably.

Chloe stared at her a moment before breaking into giggles. The Japanese girl looked at her friend angrily; she did not like being made fun of. "It's just…you really don't know?" Kirika shook her head solemnly, "It's just what it says: the _day_ of your _birth_."

"Then why celebrate it? What makes it so different from any other day?"

"Because if it wasn't for your birthday, you wouldn't be here at all!"

Kirika regarded the other girl a moment and then looked away, "Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing…" she muttered softly. But her friend's sensitive ears picked up the words and Chloe wrapped her arms around the dark-haired girl. "This birthday…is it important to you, Chloe?" The red-head let go and stepped back in surprise, it was the first time the older girl had called her by her first name.

Caught by surprise, the younger girl nodded. It was now almost a year since the man whom she had once called father left her at the Manor. But maybe…the fact that he had done so may have been the best thing he ever did for his daughter. It was almost a year since Chloe had begun living with Kirika at the Manor and she was learning quickly how to mask her true feelings. Though she still was not on Kirika or Altena's level. But that was what she aimed for…to meet Kirika's level, never surpass it, so that when the time came for them to fight side-by-side as Noir, she would not be a burden on her friend.

The Japanese girl stared for a moment before looking up at the bright afternoon sky, shielding her eyes from the sun's light with her hands, though the effort was clearly in vain. "I wish I had a birthday…"

It was one of the few times Kirika ever wanted something, ever desired for something. Usually, the only things that drove her were Altena's wishes, it was rare for the dark-haired girl to have some of her own. And at that moment, Chloe made a silent vow that whenever her dearest friend wished or something aloud, she would do everything in her power to make it come true.

Starting with this one. "Then we'll give you a birthday. You can have the same one as mine, that way we'll never forget." The red-head held out her hand, her pinky extended but curved slightly and grinned as her friend carefully hooked her finger around the other girl's.

"Thank you…" and though the words were simple, almost meaningless to most people in most situations, they made Chloe's heart leap into the air until it was floating, supported by the softest cloud. She would do everything in her power to make all of Kirika's wishes come true.

Altena smiled as stood next to the large clear window, watching over the two girls with her own hands folded neatly behind her back. How easy it was to forget the horrors of the world when one was so young. How simple children could make life seem to be…but she knew the truth. And she had made it her goal to correct that truth, to turn it into the ideals of children like Kirika and Chloe, so that the things that happened to her would never happen to anyone again.

And to reach those goals, she would wait as long as necessary. She had no qualms about waiting, in fact, the girl rather liked the waiting. It allowed time for careful planning. No possibilities would go unchecked, everything would be accounted for. Altena was a patient girl, and she would take however long she needed to make sure her plans would not fail. No one would dare go against her and her two little saplings would never even dream of it. They were too far into her grasp.

Her amethyst eyes glinted as she adeptly fastened her hair in a loose ponytail behind her head. "Poor little saplings…" they had no idea of the things she had planned for them, and they did not even know enough to realize that those plans were horrors worthy of the most terrifying nightmares.

But they were coming along well…things were moving very smoothly…


	5. Chapitre 5

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 5-la date de notre naissance**

_Chapter 5-the day of our birth_

Finally, the day had come: Chloe's birthday as well as the day which they had decided to celebrate Kirika's birthday. Asking Altena about Kirika's real birthday would have solved a few of their problems, but neither girl was willing to risk angering Altena with talk of their lives before the Manor. They had learned, over time, that the older girl did not appreciate any sort of memories of their lives before they had begun living together in the Manor. According to the blonde, that was when their lives began.

Chloe had awoken and turned over onto her side to look across the room at the bed on the other side to see that her friend was already awake, and gone. With a sigh, the red-head sat up and shivered, rubbing her hands over her arms as they pricked with goose-bumps beneath her fingers. The dark-haired girl would probably be training. She slid out of bed, shivering again as her bare feet made contact with the cool floor, and peeked into one of the drawers of the desk in the room.

It was still there, the present she had gotten for her best friend, with the help of some of the people in the nearby village that idolized her and Kirika for being the Noir. Bored, Chloe tiptoed easily through the maze-like corridors of the Manor until she reached Altena's office. She did not know what time it was, but it did not matter. Altena was always in her office, staring at the two thriving plants in the clay pots leaned against the window ledge to soak in the sun. Well, she was either there or outside in her garden, tending to all the flowers or staring out over the horizon.

The red-head knocked on the door before entering, she need not wait for Altena's answer, Kirika and Chloe had been told that many times. Yet the Japanese girl still always waited for Altena's reply before opening the door. "Altena...?" Chloe asked quietly, her voice was starting to become much quieter after all this time.

The blonde made no acknowledgement of having heard the younger girl call her name. She waited a moment for her heart's slightly quickened rate due to the surprise, slow back down again to its normal speed. Emotions were such wasted things; she would have to find some way to quickly get over this surprise and fear thing. If she did not do so soon, the girls would become adept enough to detect those emotions inside of her.

And if they could do that, they would no longer be compelled to follow her. No one would follow one weak enough to allow something as wasted as emotions get in her way. Altena took one last look at the two plants sitting in front of her, soaking up the sunlight, while the third was hidden from Chloe's view by the older girl's body.

With a gentle smile, so gentle it was almost too kind and good to be real, the older girl turned around and swept the red-head into a motherly embrace. Chloe was nothing to worry about. Her loyalties were safely with Altena. But Kirika, it was the Japanese girl that Altena had to watch out for, and watch she did. It was the dark-haired girl whose loyalties would wane if she could sense the human-ness inside of Altena that she herself had managed to cast off. What a difference not remembering the pain of separation from a family could make.

"Dear one," Altena said gently as she loosened her embrace and placed a hand softly on top of the younger girl's red hair. "Where is your other half?" she said, almost jokingly. The closest Altena would get to jokingly, sometimes acting less serious about such things made them easier for the youngest girl to grasp. Though, all three knew that Kirika and Chloe were destined to become two halves of the same whole. Noir was their destiny…blackness and the weight of carrying the sins of the world.

Chloe pursed her lips and shook her head. The blonde understood what the younger girl was saying, though she pretended not to. "What's wrong, dear one?" she asked.

Unable to resist the temptation of answering Altena's question any longer, the red-headed girl was forced to speak. "Kirika's out training. It's our birthday—"

Birthday…how useless, just a day that marked another year of wasted existence. Wasted for all but Altena and her two saplings, the Noir, their fates were intertwined with those of the entire world. Their existences had meaning; they were the only ones that meant anything. But a day to mark another year of being alive, the concept seemed so pointless to Altena, though she dared not let the thoughts show in her violet eyes.

"—and Kirika's out training." Despite having been side-tracked by her thoughts, the young woman still managed to listen to the ramblings of an even younger girl. How naïve, a child who still believed that people would not let other people down. Then again, these girls were Noir. They should never let each other down. Altena would have to scold Kirika about that as soon as she returned from her training, though she was glad to know that the little Japanese girl was indeed training.

Altena glanced outside and caught sight of a short, dark-haired little girl making her way up the road surrounded by plants that the blonde had just recently planted herself. She was carrying a package under her arm and continued to look around nervously. It was certainly uncharacteristic of Kirika. "I think Kirika is back," the young woman said, tilting her head toward the door.

Chloe smiled and ran out of the room and into the hall, careful to close the door behind her as Altena was always reminding them to do. The blonde peered over her two little saplings through the window at two other little saplings: a nervous-looking Japanese girl being questioned angrily by a slightly shorter red-headed one. A smile curved onto the woman's lips as her violet eyes reflected the girls' images. Maybe she could use this to her advantage…birthdays might not be quite so useless as she had assumed.

The red-headed girl ran out of the Manor toward her best, and only, friend, as Altena was more like the mother Chloe remembered than a friend. "Where were you?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and smiling despite her anger. She tried again, sounding slightly angrier this time, much to her silent approval, "It's our birthday."

"Here…" Kirika shoved the package she had been carrying into her friend's hand. "I asked someone in the Manor how to celebrate a birthday and she said that I had to give you a present, so I went down to the village to ask for something."

That explained it, the younger of the two girls allowed her anger to subside and returned back to the quiet, subtle voice Altena had suggested she practice using. It was fairly apathetic, but if that was what Altena wanted, then she would gladly try…and it made her at least a little more like her companion. "You got me a present?" she asked. "Can I open it?" She had, of course, spent a great deal of time searching for something proper to give Kirika, but she was certainly not expecting anything in return.

The Japanese girl nodded and watched, her expression once again unreadable, as the younger girl tore open the brown paper in which her present was wrapped. "It's beautiful!" Chloe could not hide the awe in her voice when she dropped the remnants of the paper onto the ground and held a shining knife slightly above eye-level, examining its blade in the light. "It's beautiful," she said again, testing out the subtler voice yet again.

A shaky smile formed on her friend's lips and the red-headed girl impulsively wrapped her in a hug, the knife still glinting in her hand. Kirika stiffened for just a moment before letting her body relax. It was alright, she was safe here. She was safe at the Manor, with the other women, with Altena, and most of all with Chloe. "I got something for you, too," Chloe said, smiling.

She smiled so often, sometimes she wondered if there was a reason she seemed to be smiling. Or maybe it was just an act now. If it was, then she should instead use that act to somehow become at least one step closer to Kirika's level. That was her goal. She would not tie the other girl down.

Chloe led the Japanese girl to their room and opened one of the books on the shelf. A book that was familiar to both girls, so familiar that they almost had it memorized. A book not only about the Soldats, but also about what destiny dictated they become: the Noir. A cloth fell out of the book and onto the floor. "I didn't know what else to get you…"

The older girl bent down and gently picked the cloth off the floor, eyeing it with what on any other person would have been described as confusion. "It's a cloth to clean your gun," Chloe said embarrassedly. Her own gift for her friend paled in comparison with the work of art she had just received. How could she compete with that? Better in fighting, better in controlling her emotions, and even better at reading people. Someday, Chloe swore she would catch up someday…whenever that someday was.

"Thank you," though the words were simple, they lifted Chloe's heart and made stomach soar somewhere amongst the non-existent clouds on this sunny day. The red-head smiled at her companion as she pulled something else out of a different page of the book.

She showed it to her friend who merely stared at the image blankly. "What do you think? It's for Altena."

It was a picture Chloe had asked to be edited to depict the two girls as Noir, in the same pose as the two girls on the pocket watch that Kirika always left on the table beside her bed.


	6. Chapitre 6

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 6-sans toi**

_Chapter 6-without you_

The red-headed girl was lying spread-eagled on the stone ground of the area in which she had been told many a time that she and Kirika were going to become the Noir. For now, they were only on their way there, only in training. How much longer? How much more training? When would they become Noir? These thoughts racked the brain of a red-headed five-year-old who was bored without the company of her best friend and other half.

Kirika had gone out on a mission on her own at the beginning of the day. It was already past noon and she was still not back yet. Not that Chloe was worried; she knew nothing bad could happen to the other girl. If anyone tried anything, they'd be in for a big surprise. A grin spread across the red-head's face as the thought entered her mind.

But it floated away again as the clock tolled. One…two times. It was two o'clock already and still there was no sign of the dark-haired child. The girl slowly sat up, inwardly wincing at the way her back moved against the hard stone though she tried to show no outward signs of her discomfort. She still had a long way to go before reached her goal, before she reached Kirika's level.

She waited a few moments before getting up completely and wandering down the halls; she had already wasted whatever of the morning hadn't been spent training by lying on the ground and waiting for time to pass. It was a very slow process. Now, she would just have to find a way to kill the time, figuratively speaking of course. Chloe debated training more, but Altena liked them to function on the schedule she had planned up.

It was strange how easily she was able to adapt to her life being dictated by schedules and a single person who wasn't even much older than herself. But the girl had adjusted, and quite quickly. There was just something about those schedules, those lists, that lay in neat piles on the blonde's desk near the flourishing plants.

Her feet led her down a familiar route while the child's mind wandered, automatic in the way she knew Altena would be proud of. The red-head opened the door a crack, slowly so as not to make it creak though she failed miserably at that, and peered through into the room. "What is it, dear one?" the voice sang through the room, coming from the slim figure of a blond-haired girl with her back facing toward the door. She seemed fascinated by something on the windowsill, something with which her two young charges were quite familiar: the wilted sapling.

Chloe never understood why the older girl kept something like that, and never really bothered to understand. She hadn't even noticed until the other girl who complemented her as Noir tried to teach her to be more perceptive. Sometimes, that was what drew the line between life and death in their line of work: ridding the world of its sins and carrying those burdens to lighten the strain on other people's shoulders. That was what they were, that was what Noir was.

"Kirika hasn't returned," the red-head replied quietly. Her voice had become much quieter over the past few days, especially now when the child thought about it. Eventually, it would become habit, she hoped.

Altena smiled. Chloe thought it was the most comforting image in the world, anyone else would have felt shivers running down his or her spine. "Are you worried about your other half?" the older girl asked, breaking off a dead leaf from the remnants of the struggling sapling while her comforting smile turned into a satisfied one.

The three plants were so different and sturdy, yet so fragile. One was growing just as she would have liked, another twisted and bent, while the last was dying if not dead. So beautiful, but with such frail lives; all she had to do was move them away from the light and stop watering them and they would shrivel away. One of them was already almost gone, wilting in the shadows.

It was so easy to kill them, to manipulate them, to mold them. She was almost bored with the simplicity of it all, with just how easy it was to hold their lives in her hands, the hands of one who would by appearances have been called a child.

Chloe shook her head, red hair whipping into her eyes. "Not at all," she lied, trying to keep her voice level. "Maybe a little," she amended. Lying to Altena was one of the worse feelings she could get; Altena never lied to her, right?

"Why don't you practice, dear one?" Altena asked, finally turning around to face her smile in the other child's direction. "When Kirika comes home, you can show her how much you've improved," she added.

That sounded like a good idea. The child grinned in response and sprinted away from the room. But unfortunately, she bumped into one of the more aggressive women, also one of the more jealous women. "Ah, the little flower," the woman said.

"Sapling," Chloe corrected her, though the correction wasn't much better. Instantly, her fingers brushed against the hilt of one of her knives.

The woman saw the movement and smiled. Maybe she wasn't a woman, a teenager? There was no difference to the child, either way she was old. She pulled her own knife from the belt that stretched across her waist. "Now I can finally see if you deserve Altena's affections!"

Affections; the blonde was the caring mother that Chloe yearned for. But these were affections of a different sort, a sort that she could not understand at the age of five.

A pair of amethyst eyes peered through a slim crack through the door as the girl leaned against the wall. Fighting was not allowed in the Manor, but this could be her chance to see how well her little sapling did in a real fight. She readied herself to take mental notes, to retain the images, for future reference.

The woman ran forward, unsheathing her knives as she did so.

While a pair of knives leapt into the red-head's open hands and she quickly dodged the oncoming attack, closing her eyes as she moved; she hadn't realized she couldn't see. She threw the knives, cutting at the woman's arms and jumped out of the way of another attack.

"I suggest you stop," Altena's cool voice cut through the fight, ending it as suddenly as it had started. The aggressive woman returned her knives to her belt and trudged away, casting an unsatisfied glance at the child before slinking away. "As for you, dear one," she began.

And she paused. She knew exactly where she was going, what she was going to say and do. She only paused to make it seem as though she didn't; if people knew how quickly her mind worked it wouldn't be so easy to manipulate them, though she didn't need such precautions with this adoring child.

Altena looked sternly at the red-head and continued, "I will take those," she tilted her amethyst eyes toward the knives.

Chloe clutched the blades to her chest, they were her precious treasure, the one thing that she did not want taken away from her. They had been given to her by Kirika. The girl's eyes opened again, brimming with tears though she repeated in her head that she would not let herself cry, like a mantra to keep her eyes dry.

Reluctantly, the child handed the knives over, looking away as if hoping that by not seeing the deed, it would not exist. How would she explain this to the Japanese girl when she returned?

"I would like to see you and Kirika tomorrow morning," the blonde continued, carefully holding the knives in her hands as if she was unsure of the safest way to do it. She had held her own knives and swords many times; she was not the amateur she seemed to be.

The red-head looked sulkily at the ground and kicked at an invisible pebble with her toe. "If Kirika comes back by then," she mumbled.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. It felt familiar. She knew it better than her own: her second pair of hands, the ones that belonged to her other half. "Kirika!" she exclaimed, excited, and spun around to wrap her arms around the other girl's neck.


	7. Chapitre 7

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 7-nous ne sommes plus solitaires**

_Chapter 7-we are no longer alone_

The child hugged her knees to her chest as the wind blew her short red hair around her face. Her eyes were closed and she was listening to the familiar, comforting sounds carried by the breeze.

Not too far away, a gunshot exploded in the air. Chloe barely heard the other girl's steady breathing, her foot push back a little to compensate for the kick from the gun, her short, and her short dark hair whip around her face. She heard a click and another piece was added to the end of the gun.

The next gunshot was almost silent.

"Chloe?" the red-head jumped and her eyes snapped open. She berated herself for having focused on one thing and not paid attention to everything else around her. In a fight, that mistake could cost her life.

The woman who spoke smiled quietly down at the girl, her features hidden in shadow from the sun gleaming behind her, reflecting against her golden hair and forming a halo around her head.

She looked like an angel. No, this woman truly was an angel.

Altena debated bending down to eye-level with the younger girl. She did not appreciate dirtying her clothes, but in order to complete her goal she had learned to do whatever necessary.

But she decided against it and leaned down to ruffle the younger girl's red hair with her usual smile curled onto her elegant lips. She had practiced the smile many times to be sure it was perfect, so that it would never falter. She had been sure to create the perfect mask for herself: it was the only way her goals could be accomplished, and they would be accomplished at all costs.

"Do you like watching, dear one?" the young woman asked.

She knew the answer; the child was too easy to read. It provided no challenge and in fact she would have said it was becoming less interesting had it not been for the surge of power that coursed through her body every time these two girls, her carefully groomed saplings, followed the course of her script.

They were creating her world. They weren't ridding the world of sin, but washing it and bringing it onto themselves to carry it for the rest of the world. They would become angels, black-stained by sin. Blacker than the devil himself.

The child's eyes switched focus between the two other girls; one standing beside the red-head with her shoulder brushing against the stone wall and the other fighting off invisible enemies. "Yes," she answered quietly.

"You aren't too bored?" Altena insisted. She slowly nudged the girl in the right direction. This was one of the reasons she often preferred to work with the young Japanese girl; Kirika was quicker to take the hints. Though, that speed was oftentimes frightening.

Chloe's brows furrowed over her eyes, closed against the bright sun. Yes, she was. But there was nothing she could do about it. If she complained, she knew that she would be taken away to train on her own. She didn't care about the circumstances, but as long as she was with Kirika, it was worthwhile. "Possibly," she answered tentatively.

She trusted the older girl not to take her away from her other half, from her safe haven.

The gentle smile remained on the girl's lips as she resisted the urge to grin with pleasure. In her heart she cried out with joy, but outwardly, she remained just as calm as she had been mere moments ago. "I won't make you leave. Answer me truthfully, dear one."

"Yes."

She was so easy to manipulate, Altena laughed inwardly at the thought. It was so easy to make this child act on the formidable blonde's every whim, she had placed the wires around her tree to make it grow into the shape she desired. And the tree never knew. "What would you say, if I told you that you would be starting a different training?"

The red-head tried to mask her disappointment but was still only an amateur at the art Altena had spent years perfecting. "I'd rather stay and watch, then."

The smile flickered on the older girl's face just a moment as she straightened up and called to the other girl, aiming her gun at an invisible enemy in the distance. Kirika turned to face them, her short black hair fluttering around her red-brown eyes in the breeze as she easily strolled to where the other two stood.

Her confident, flowing gait was enough to resurface thoughts that had somehow managed to sink lower in the blonde's mind: she had to be careful about this girl.

She didn't fear Kirika. She would fear no one, she had vowed that. No one could do worse to her now than had already been done in the past. And for what had happened in the past, the entire world would be paying the price for years to come: at the hands of the Noir.

"My dear ones," Altena said with her gentle smile as the dark-haired girl came within arm's reach, "you're both very talented," it was best to flatter before hand. That way, they would let down their guard.

It worked perfectly, just as the girl had known it would.

"I think it's time you started your training together," she went on and smiled smugly at the look of genuine happiness on the youngest girl's face. As always, her other protégé was almost completely unreadable. Altena had spent too long perfecting her art, too long creating her plans, for them to be ruined by a child playing at being secretive.

Chloe jumped up and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. "We really get to start training together, Altena?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Of course," she answered, ruffling the younger girl's red hair slightly with one of her hands.

Her amethyst eyes floated to the third member of their group who had remained silent the whole time. She noticed with a hint of pride the shadow of a smile in the Japanese girl's dark eyes. They could hide nothing from Altena's sharp violet eyes.

"You are two halves of a whole," the blonde repeated, drilling it into their impressionable minds. "You cannot properly act as one unless you learn to think as one and that involves training as one."

Chloe loosened her grasp on Altena's waist and turned her eyes to her dearest, and only, friend, "Now you and I can truly become the Noir."


	8. Chapitre 8

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 8-les choses que je ferrai**

_Chapter 8-the things I will do_

Chloe's leg came around and when it touched the ground she used her momentum to swing her arm across. The other girl easily dodged both and while the red-head was turned around, took the opportunity to swing her own leg around and kick her friend in the side. The younger girl was knocked to the ground and the breath forced from her small lungs.

An extended hand appeared in sight of her sharp eyes and she looked at the person to whom it belonged: Kirika. The Japanese girl had a slight glimmer in her eye, the closest thing she had ever allowed herself to get to a smile. "You're improving," she said.

A frown crossed the younger girl's face as she accepted the hand offered to her and pulled herself up, or trying to. Instead, both girls fell onto the ground and now a fleeting grimace flashed across her companion's face.

That was the worst punishment Chloe could ever imagine: Kirika or Altena disapproving of anything she did. She was determined to do everything to make the other child see her as an equal, and to make the blonde proud.

The red-headed girl rolled to the side, pulling a few limbs out from under her friend's form, and slowly sat up and closed her eyes to listen to the scenery around them. She heard the rustle of grass that meant the older girl had sat up as well. "I would have done better if I could have used my knives."

"Then I would have been allowed knives as well," Kirika replied with the closest she ever allowed herself to get to a joke.

It was true, however reluctant Chloe was to admit it. If she had been allowed her knives—most of all that precious slightly curved blade that the dark-haired girl had given to her—her opponent would have been given the same courtesy. She would have been beaten just as badly, if not even more so.

But a smile fell onto the girl's face: Kirika was certainly going easy on her friend, but not as much as she did when sparring with some of the other girls who resided in the Manor. It was another step towards the respect the young child wanted from her idol.

"I'll beat you soon," the red-head said, nodding her head confidently, though she knew there was nothing to strengthen her conviction. She didn't believe the words, but she pretended as though she did for the sake of practice. She would excel at hiding her true feelings, just like the other two girls.

She was destined to become one half of the legendary Noir, after all. Mediocrity meant failure not only for herself, but also for her other half, the other hand of Noir. She would not, could not, fail. For Altena's sake, but mostly for Kirika's sake.

Maybe it would help to bring a true smile onto the Japanese girl's stolid face.

For now, Chloe had a small obstacle to overcome before she could prove herself to the other two girls. Aside from that one time, life-changing though it had been, Chloe had never been away from the Manor. She had never gone on a mission while her best and only friend would disappear for hours, even days, at a time. When would Chloe be the one standing over a body her own two hands had stilled?

When would she become the artist the Kirika was, creating morbidly, hauntingly beautiful masterpieces of her own?

She heard dark hair brush against the other girl's neck as she moved her head to look at her friend. Unfamiliar silence floated in the air between them. Silence itself was not unfamiliar, it was their closest companion, but this was a different type.

Eventually, the older girl spoke and Chloe resisted the urge to smile as she imagined her companion's face, her lips forming the words while a wisp of hair moved with each breath. "Altena will let you go when she feels you are ready," the Japanese girl said.

Did that mean they thought the red-head incompetent? Was she incapable of taking care of herself? Was she that pathetic, that helpless?

It was rare that the younger girl was the silent party in their conversations, but the other child continued along, trying to fill the suddenly awkward silence. "She will let you leave soon, you will be ready soon. They're waiting for you, the ones who protect the Manor and the Noir…"

It was the most she had said at any given time, and it was clearly uncomfortable when the child's voice trailed off. Chloe's imagined the words traveling in the wind, brushing against the treetops, traveling someplace far away that she had never before seen.

The red-head opened her eyes again and blinked as she was temporarily blinded by the sudden light. "You're only saying that because Altena always gives you missions."

A young woman chose that moment to call their names, her voice just barely floating over the ruins that separated the hill upon which they were training from the view of the Manor. Every day, it seemed, Kirika had insisted on moving farther and farther away from the building, and therefore from Altena.

There was a tension building that Chloe could not understand, but still felt gnawing at her bones. "Altena wants to see you," the woman called vaguely just as she emerged into their line of sight before quickly disappearing again toward the building the two girls, and all those who lived there, fondly called home.

It was more of a home than that place Chloe had come from, though she couldn't help but wonder, even for just a moment, what had happened to her father.

And what had happened to Kirika's family.

"She probably means you," the girl said angrily. She wasn't angry with either of the older girls, it was merely anger with no other outlet than the nearest person. She turned her head away from the child sitting beside her and resisted against calling out as she hear Kirika stand, almost reluctantly, and walk away.

Unable to sit idly not knowing what was happening, Chloe waited until her friend was at least out of sight before she quickly jumped to her feet and took the long way back to the Manor, circling the outside of the building until she was near enough to Altena's room to find an innovative way of listening on the conversation.

She climbed the trellis allowing vines to crawl along the wall, and settled as close to the window as she could, straining her ears to hear bits of the conversation taking place between the two girls.

There was something there, that tension again. But also, a sort of closeness that Chloe envied. That same feeling had washed over her many times as she had stood, complaining of boredom, in Altena's office but never had she seen it in context with the distant Japanese girl.

"I have a mission for you, Kirika, I know you're up to it," Altena's gentle voice floated through the window to where Chloe clung to the wall.

"I won't take it," was the reply; it was a child's voice, and one that Chloe recognized all too well. The girl's hand slipped and she almost lost her grasp on the wood, the only thing keeping her from plummeting to the ground.

"What's wrong, dear one?" That was what the red-headed girl would have liked to know as well. The other child had never before given up a mission, why now? What kind of mission was it if Kirika—Kirika of all people!—was not willing to do it?

"Chloe." She almost lost her careful balance, yet again. Instantly, she understood. And so, it seemed, did Altena. She heard the older girl's steady footsteps until they stopped and her fingers moved around the green leaf of one of her prized saplings.

--

"What did Altena want, Kirika?" Chloe asked again. She already knew the answer, but she was trying to weasel it out of her friend. It was the only thing she was willing to say to the other girl.

Her reason for not speaking: she was angry. Kirika was giving up a mission because of Chloe, because Chloe had never left before and because it was eating away at her. It was her fault; she was already slowing the other girl down.

"What did Altena want?" she repeated when she didn't get a response.

She heard the other girl shake her head and stop moving. Chloe took the chance of sweeping a kick at her companion. The Japanese girl caught her friend's leg, her feet temporarily losing their balance from the momentum. Clearly, she was distracted: it was a move the dark-haired child had never used before.

"Chose one, Chloe," Kirika said. Though it was the voice of a child, it was mature and soft enough to send chills sharper even than her friend's prized dagger. "Either practice or talk."

"If I stop, you'll take the chance and hit me," the other girl replied stubbornly. She knew it wasn't true, it was something that she would have done though, and it was a key rule to never judge your enemy. Always suspect that they will take any chances to take you down.

The Japanese girl instantly let go of her partner's foot and took a few quick steps back and out of her friend's reach. It was proved to be a mistake when the younger child lunged forward. Her companion easily dodged the fist until Chloe stopped unexpectedly and swung her other arm around.

"Why'd you refuse the mission? Was it because of me?" she demanded as she stepped closer to her friend's confused form.

It was the first time she had ever bested Kirika; it both unnerved her and sent excited chills running up and down her spine. She was expecting the other girl's dark eyes to widen in surprise, but the gesture never came. "I thought that was you," the little girl said simply.

The comment was enough to send chills up any grown man's spine. But Chloe was no grown man: she was a little girl who was determined to someday become the equal of the dark-haired assassin standing in front of her. "You knew I was there?"

Somehow, she was the one who had become unnerved by the situation. Just one simple phrase could so completely turn the tide of the conversation.

"Of course, you are my other half," the girl replied, saying exactly what it usually took to calm her friend down. "You are a part of me, I can always feel you; where you are, and when you are troubled."

"Troubled?"

"You have never been on a mission before," the girl continued. This was one of the longest conversations she had ever held up without Chloe's constant prodding. "You are restless—"

"Don't talk as if you can understand what I'm feeling!" the other girl interrupted, even more unnerved now that the other girl had seemingly entered her mind and felt her way around as though she was an old veteran. The red-head had noticed this many times before but it had never struck her as harshly as it had at that moment.

Kirika waited in silence for her friend to continue and when she did not, the young Japanese girl took a breath and went on. "I told Altena that I would take no more missions until she lets you out as well."

Chloe let her fist fly again, though this time she was unable to land the hit and instead just barely grazed the older girl's clothes.


	9. Chapitre 9

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 9-l'ange rouge**

_Chapter 9-the red angel_

Altena's amethyst eyes gleamed as she watched the scene from the window in one of the rooms. Unfortunately, though her office was known to have the best view, it did not have the one she wanted at the moment. From this room, one could see the sun rise.

She had been watching the two girls fight with her brows furrowed slightly over her eyes. The girl debated whether she should go down there and stop them or not. They weren't supposed to fight against each other; they were supposed to work together as if they were one: that was the essence to Noir, the key to their strength.

No. She would wait it out a little while longer. If they continued not to work together, she would have to step in. She could not let her plans be ruined because of the stubbornness of two naïve children who knew nothing of the world.

If they could not be counted on to cooperate, if things persisted this way, she would have to find a new set of saplings. She would have to plan all over again; but Altena could manage it. She had the patience to wait it out, if need be. Everyone was dispensable; she could find a new set of girls to mold if need be.

--

"You would never be able to understand something like this!" the red-head shouted, venting her frustration at the only thing available: Kirika.

She stopped and fell to her knees, breathing heavily with exhaustion. "I was trying to help," the dark-haired girl muttered sadly. Chloe almost wanted to laugh and for a brief moment let a smile wander onto her face until she remembered the reason for her anger.

She was angry; she had every right to be angry. But it was difficult to stay that way for too long. Her friend was so awkward: at life, at everything. It was almost laughably pathetic, almost surreal.

"You're right that I want to go on a mission," she said. That was an understatement. She wanted to go so badly that it hurt, but this wasn't the way she wanted it to happen. She didn't want to be a burden on Kirika or Altena; they both had such high expectations of her. "But I won't take it if she gives it to me because of this!"

"Because of what?" Kirika asked, confused, as she stood awkwardly beside her friend who kneeled, still out-of-breath, on her knees.

Did she really not understand? Was she really so much more awkward than Chloe had ever imagined? She placed it upon herself to change that. It was up to her now to never let Kirika feel awkward or out of place. Who else could accomplish such a task but the red-headed girl herself; they were two halves of the same whole and understood each other better than anyone else. Maybe even better than Altena.

Chloe shook her head, causing her brilliant red hair to fall over her face. She knew that no matter how hard she tried, she would not be able to hide this expression: she wasn't as good as Kirika and Altena yet. She didn't want the other girl to see. "Because of you…. I want to get a mission because Altena thinks I'm ready, not because she needs you."

"What's the difference?" the older girl asked sincerely.

"If I get a mission because of you, then it means I haven't gotten anywhere; it would mean that I'm still useless," the girl said, her voice cracking slightly as she fought off her tears in vain, feeling their warmth glide down her cheek and into her mouth: salty, mingled with sweat.

Beside her, the Japanese girl stirred though she otherwise remained silent. They waited for a few moments to pass, as though Kirika knew that her friend was crying no matter how hard the red-head tried to hide it. Instinctive, intuitive: she knew her friend so well. The thought sent shivers running up Chloe's spine. She didn't know whether they were from excitement or fear—her friend read her so unnervingly well.

When the silence had passed and the younger child had stopped crying long enough for her eyes to stop swelling, she heard the grass rustle underneath the other girl's movements. She looked over and slowly brought her eyes upwards: Kirika was standing. "What are you doing?"

"To tell Altena that I'm taking the mission," she answered shortly. It was her usual shortness, but her companion's sharp ears caught something underneath it. Or was it just Chloe's imagination, so intent on finding proof that they were meant to come together as the one and only Noir?

--

An unnerving smile slid across the young blonde's lips, distorting her features in the red light from the setting sun. Angel by day, demon by night.

Her amethyst eyes gleamed with a hint of red as she watched the two girls. They had taken so long that an ordinary person would have lost her patience. But not Altena, she had cultivated it to the degree necessary to reach her goals. It was for this world—soaked in the familiar color of blood from the sun as it fell from its place in the heavens—that she did everything.

For this corrupted world that fed off the torments of others.

She wanted to see how long it would last without its nourishment. With the Noir soaking all the world's sins, how long would it be able to last? How long until the red shone so brightly on these two girls—her prized project—that it could be seen through the blackness?

Altena turned her back to the window and returned to her office just a few moments after the Japanese girl with her dark hair gleaming almost satanically in the light stood and walked away. It was time to water her saplings. She couldn't have them dying. Not yet.


	10. Chapitre 10

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_R__emember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 10-****un autre jour**

_Chapter 10-__another day_

Two years. Over two years had already passed in the Manor since Chloe had arrived. It was both as short as a moment and as long as an eternity. She glanced at her friend and wondered if the older girl felt the same way. Was she just being over-sentimental?

The Japanese girl must have felt her friend's gaze, because she looked over and the faintest smile flickered on her lips though it lingered in her dark eyes. Today was their birthday, a day that had become special to both girls in this time. It was a connection: they shared this day, proof that they were one and that they had been born to become Noir.

It had become something of a hobby, watching the two girls from the Manor. Light shone in her amethyst eyes, but the young woman did nothing to shield them. She had once loathed this day, seeing it as pointless. Since then, she had learned. It was far from pointless: she could use it to further manipulate the girls.

But something else was on her mind. She turned away from the window and strode to the withering sapling in the shadows of the room. It should have died by now; it should not have been able to survive this long. Her fingers glided across the surface of a dying leaf. A touch like feathers, the touch of an angel…like everything else she did, she had perfected it over time.

The other two where thriving, though one bothered her. The one that spiraled and twisted so far it seemed almost incapable of holding itself up. Maybe it wasn't so bad that the third sapling hadn't yet died. She slowly moved the pot into the light and poured a small glass of water into the dry dirt. If the gnarled tree was to somehow fall, then this neglected sapling might become useful.

She couldn't take any chances, she couldn't let her goals die because of two naïve, foolish children. But that was why she was there, patiently caring for those two: so that they wouldn't fail. Too much would have been wasted.

--

Chloe shifted impatiently. They always waited until the sun fell below the horizon to celebrate. She closed her eyes and smiled at the thoughts, the memories and hopes. Altena would come in, smiling gently, and embrace both girls gently in her arms. She would sit with them, watching them eat cakes and sweets sent from the town whose sole purpose was to protect the Noir. She would watch as they opened presents and then smile when they gave her their own.

They always had a present for Altena. She was the mother Chloe never knew, she was always there. She would never do anything to hurt them, of that the child was sure. But the sun was still far from its descent and they had nothing to do during the day. They had no training and outside of that, there was never much to do in the Manor.

"They planted a new tree," Kirika interrupted the other girl's thoughts. Her voice and manner were as quiet and deliberate as ever. Yet there was something that had changed about her. She never showed anyone what she thought or felt; no one except Chloe. Not even Altena knew of the secrets she shared with her friend.

That was a confidence the younger girl was determined to keep. "It won't be fun to look at. It's still so small!" she said quietly. She had trained her voice to be quiet and after all this time, she had finally mastered it. Despite that, she couldn't hide the slight upward curve of her lips. She wasn't there yet…she wasn't quite at the level of her friend. But she would get there—she swore that by their shared birthday next year she would be at that level.

She would not allow herself to be a burden on her friend.

"It only means we'll be able to watch it grow," the Japanese girl responded, reaching out a hand for her friend to lift herself up.

Chloe pulled herself up and let go of the other girl's hand, a frown sitting gently on her lips. "But we'll be sitting there forever!" she complained.

It was the closest Kirika had ever gotten to laughing, as far as her companion remembered at least. She smiled briefly and said, "Not in one sitting. Over time…" The red-head shrugged as if to say that she knew that and was testing the other child, though that was completely untrue.

With a sigh, the younger of the two nodded her head in silent agreement though she ended up leading the way to the new tree: through the rows of plants Altena had made in front of the Manor. She looked at the 'tree' in great disappointment. It was so small and frail. It looked as though it could have easily snapped in half during a strong wind.

"Just like the world," a familiar, soothing voice said from behind the duo. Both girls looked up and smiled at the newcomer. Altena's voice was too soft and gentle to scare anyone, unexpected or not. It was always comfortable, always comforting. All three girls looked back at the tree, "It looks so weak, doesn't it? It can't hold itself up, that's why there are those two sticks next to it.

Chloe had been wondering about those.

"Two of them," Kirika muttered quietly, thinking aloud. The red-headed child turned her inquisitive gaze to her friend. "Just like us, just like the Noir. We are going to hold up the world the way they hold up the tree."

Altena gave the girl an approving smile. Chloe wanted that smile focused on her and she scolded herself inwardly for being so jealous of her friend, of her sister, of her other half. "That's right," the blonde said with a small nod. Her deep violet eyes glanced in the direction of the sun as it started its descent below the horizon.

Her little puppets, her little saplings; they already knew their job. They already knew so well what they had to do. The smile on her face was more than just one of approval, it was one of satisfaction.

Satisfaction that her plans were progressing rather smoothly, despite the few bumps along the way.

Had it been anyone else, she would have imagined that those small problems were imagined but Altena knew better than to dismiss any possibilities, any hunches. "It's getting dark, dear ones," she announced.

The younger girls both looked in the direction of the horizon, orange-red light reflecting off the clouds and onto their faces. The blonde couldn't resist smiling again; they were magnificent in that deep red gleam. It looked just as though they were covered in blood. And they would be…

Chloe had been about ready to burst all day; she had been longing to see the reaction on her friend's face when she saw what she would get this year. She had put more thought into this gift that she could remember having given to anything else she had ever done. She grabbed the Japanese girl by the hand and dragged her into the Manor, calling out: "Come on, Altena! We have something we want to give you, too, before dinner!"

The blonde sighed and followed slowly after her two little saplings. To please Chloe, she had to pretend to like the terrible day. It was a reminder of the past, a reminder of the world outside that Altena never wanted to see again. No, the Manor was her home—home to all the women who lived within its walls. Why should they ever want to live in the world outside? A world where families were torn apart and houses were destroyed?

The Manor would never be destroyed. She would die before she'd let it fall to rubble. She stared, red light shining against its walls as if the building was on fire. Her girls would carry it on their backs along with the rest of this weak, feeble world.

"Altena!" Chloe called again and the girl snapped out of her thoughts. A strange expression must have crossed her face in that instant, judging by the surprise in her young charge's eyes. She made a note never to allow that expression to reveal itself again.

"Coming, dear one," she answered and although her voice was quiet, the words had carried. She followed the two girls into the building and up to the room they shared. They couldn't have separate rooms, though there was enough to accommodate them if the need arose. They needed to live as one if they were to become the Noir.

She arrived in time to watch the red-head, almost shaking with anticipation, trying to act reserved as she carefully tore off brown paper from the package on her lap. Silently, from where she sat on the other bed in the room, Kirika watched. Was that happiness? Altena thought she saw something in the dark-haired girl's stolid red-brown eyes.

That was one reason it was so important to please Chloe. It was the only way to please Kirika, to tighten her grasp on the older girl's trust. The red-head already trusted her, clung to her like a parent after her real ones had abandoned her. It was always important for both girls to trust her wholeheartedly and by pleasing one, she would have them both.

An excited squeal returned the blonde to reality and she saw, with some delight, that a set of gleaming new throwing knives sat in the little girl's lap. Kirika knew her partner well. Altena had decided to allow this birthday experience as another test to gauge the girls' training. What they gave to each other was a sign of how well they knew each other and without a deep level of understanding, her years of planning would unravel at the seams.

Now that her friend had finished, the Japanese girl turned her attention to the colorful bag sitting on the bed beside her. It was awkward in the plain, simple room where the only colors were neutral whites, blacks, browns and grays. Against it, reds and yellows stood out abnormally so. They were almost blinding.

"Your turn, open it!" despite the manufactured quiet of the youngest girl's voice, it was clear that she was excited. The dark-haired girl reached a tentative hand inside, as though afraid the colorful paper exploding from the opening might not return her hand once it was caught. But she retrieved her hand, and with it a holster for her gun. A gasp escaped her lips and this time, a true smile as she stood up slowly and crossed the room to hug her companion.

Altena was thoroughly satisfied. They were getting along much better than she had anticipated. She was turning to leave when Chloe jumped both from her bed and from the other girl's embrace and clamped her hand on the blonde's robes. "We have something for you, too," she announced.

The other child nodded and pulled a package out from under one of the beds, carrying it to where the others stood and offering it to the oldest. The young woman was almost stunned. In her hands was a rare history book for which she had been searching for a long time. Deep within its pages and its story was the Noir.

She smiled, her first genuine smile in years, her first true smile since her determinedly naïve view of the world had been shattered. These girls were growing on her; she was starting to become attached. She had to stop that from happening at all costs.


	11. Chapitre 11

**Rappele Toi Toujours de Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre 11-****la premi****è****re fois**

_Chapter 11-__the first time_

Chloe sat hugging her legs to her chest with her chin resting on her knees as she watched her best friend who almost seemed to be disappearing into the early morning fog. It was beautiful. Dodge right, bring the leg around, kick, dodge out of the way, fire once…twice, the security shot.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; the morning air was so fresh, so soothing. And yet, at the back of her mind, something still bothered her. She always watched, she was always on the sidelines, never in the spotlight. Not that she wanted to take the leading role away from Kirika, but she wanted to be on stage instead of hiding somewhere beyond the curtain.

She almost missed the hurried footsteps. They were long strides; someone was running. The rustle of a skirt, lighter steps: it was a woman, one of the women who lived in the Manor. And she was running toward them. "Kirika," Chloe called, opening her eyes in time to see her friend, completely motionless with her gun held out in front of her and the wind rustling through her dark hair.

But the woman didn't seem to be running toward the Japanese girl. Instead, she stopped near Chloe and both girls looked at her in surprise. Kirika even dropped her arm to her side and strode to where her friend and the woman stood. "Chloe, Altena is calling you," the woman said.

Never before had she called for Chloe without Kirika. Often, the older girl had been called in alone, but that was always a clue that she would be going on her next mission. For the red-head…what could it possibly mean? She turned a terrified gaze in her friend's direction; what if she had done something wrong and Altena was angry with her?

Despite what the woman had said, Kirika followed the two silently through the Manor's halls. The other girl repressed the smile that threatened to form on her lips—the tips curved only slightly upwards, a sign that she was improving—at the thought that her friend was worried about her. At the idea that she was the only person who could cause Kirika to worry.

And yet, that very idea troubled her in more ways than she could comprehend.

The woman left the two girls at the door and Chloe knocked once before entering, the way she had seen Kirika do when she went to visit the older girl on her own. Usually, the red-head would bound into the room, but not today. Something felt different today and it was terrifying.

Chloe looked around as she stepped into Altena's immaculate office, her heart racing when she realized that her companion had not followed her. She was left completely abandoned, completely alone. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw something golden flash in the light and she turned her head to face it completely.

It was undoubtedly Altena: the way she held herself, the soothing air that seemed to surround her, the golden halo around her head from the light reflecting off her shining hair, and the robes that flattered her blossoming figure the way they could flatter no one else. She turned around as the door opened, her fingers lingering over the dying sapling she kept in the corner for a few seconds longer. Weeks ago, Chloe would not have caught the older girl's hand quickly retreating from the withered leaf. Weeks ago, Chloe's eyes were not as sharp, either.

"Dear one, I have excellent news," Altena said, a smile lighting her face. With that smile and the gleaming light behind her, Chloe swore that she was looking on the countenance of an angel. "I have a mission for you and you alone," she said.

Altena continued to smile, the muscles just beginning to complain. She would have to practice later; she would not tolerate her plans being ruined because her smile faltered. She was aware that her precious saplings were advancing and she was aware that they both would see the smallest twitch and realize that her smile was fake. Training wasn't only difficult for those two. Altena had to train herself as well, to keep herself perfectly under control.

She waited for the red-head's response. It felt like hours before the girl snapped out of her stunned silence and a grin spread over her lips. Altena would have sighed with relief had she been anyone other than Altena. Instead, she merely let the smile waver, shrink but not disappear, as she explained the situation to her little sapling.

It was so easy; they did everything she wanted. But she would not let that knowledge go to her head, she would not lose sight of her goals. She was patient enough to wait the few years necessary until those dreams were within her grasp. The Noir would become unstoppable. The Noir would take on the sins of the world. The Noir would become her saviors.

Chloe stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her in stunned silence. Had that been real? Was she really going on a mission of her own? Just like the ones Kirika went on, she was on her way. Wait for her, she was on her way. She would reach Kirika's level and they would finally become Noir. They would finally become what they were meant to: one complete whole.

"Chloe," said a quiet voice. The girl jumped as her thoughts were immediately thrown from her head. She turned toward the speaker: her other half, Kirika. "What did Altena say?"

There it was again, that slight hint of worry that made Chloe's heart soar. What was this? She would ask Altena when she returned, surely the older girl would understand. Those amethyst eyes understood everything and that thought wasn't terrifying the way many would have thought. In fact, it was more comforting than those people could have ever imagined.

Chloe's lips curled into a smile she could not hold back. "I'm going on a mission," she said, unable to control the excitement in her voice. She scolded herself mentally, how could she ever hope to become the Noir if she couldn't control herself even that much? "Tomorrow morning," she said as coolly as she could.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't at Kirika's level yet, but she would get there. She would not drag Kirika down.

--

Chloe's eyes fluttered open to the blinding light seeping through the window with the morning fog. Instantly, she shot up, sudden adrenaline rushing through her tiny frame as she wondered why she was so excited. Her mind raced and she struggled to keep up with her thoughts when she finally remembered. It was to be the day of her first mission. It was to be the day that she would finally become a step closer to Kirika, to becoming Noir.

The child slipped out of bed, shuddering at the cold floor beneath her feat and glancing over at the sleeping form of her friend. As silently as she could, she stole the knives off the bedside table and searched through the closet for something to wear. This was the most important day of her life.

Normal girls would spend hours choosing outfits for their dates. Chloe didn't know that, but she was doing the same thing. The same elation in her body as she thought of what possibilities lay ahead of her once the sun sank beneath the sky.

There was nothing special in her closet: it was all the same as Kirika's. Everything was gray. But one thing stood out in the back of the closet: a gray cloak. She reached for the cloak and her head snapped to her friend's form as the hanger clattered to the floor. It was like thunder in the girl's nervousness, but Kirika didn't make a move and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief as she flung the cloak over her shoulders and strapped on her assortment of knives.

With one last look in Kirika's direction, she stole out the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Kirika waited a few moments before she opened her dark eyes and stretched. It had taken Chloe much longer than expected to get out of the room, and now that she finally was, the Japanese girl could begin her own plans for the day. She jumped out of bed and followed her friend with footsteps that not even the red-head's sharp ears could catch.

Past the village, through a set of woods that somehow unnerved both girls despite how often Kirika had run through them, and onwards. Kirika watched nervously as Chloe trembled. Was there something wrong with her? Was she ill? It was beyond her comprehension to even think of the idea that the younger girl might have been nervous. It was beyond her to understand what that anxiety was like: this was her way of life and it was the only life she had known.

Kirika glared down at the foliage as it crackled beneath her feet. Each step sounded like an explosion. Whatever it was that had welled in her chest since the day before…what was it? Was this fear? She didn't know, she didn't bother about it. Whatever it was, it was in the way. A few times, Chloe looked back as though she was aware there was someone there, but she never saw her friend who tailed her with a level of skill of which even Altena was unaware.

The red-head looked up at the mansion standing before her (ah, the life of the obscenely wealthy) and shuddered. It was just like her old home down to the same feeling of loneliness and hatred that surrounded it. She took a deep breath and quickly let it out in what sounded like a quiet whistle to her sensitive ears.

She was ready, she had to be ready.

Quickly, the child stole inside the building while, still unknown to her, Kirika followed silently. Chloe's cloak rustled and her footsteps made the gentlest of taps against the cold, dark marble floor. She stopped suddenly, looking around. She had studied the map of the building the night before, the one Altena had given to her, but she was surprised when a thought hit her: wouldn't someone as rich as this man have alarms?

Why hadn't she tripped any of them? She looked around and thought she saw something flutter in the darkness, but after a few moments while the shadows remained still she decided that it must have just been in her imagination.

Behind a column, Kirika resisted the urge to sigh in relief, she let out her breath slowly and smiled. She had seen her friend enter thoughtlessly and had rushed forward to disarm the alarms. But her friend had almost seen her, she had almost been caught. As the soon-to-be Noir, she knew that being caught was one of the worst things that could happen.

She was one of the black maidens, as ephemeral as the shadows.


	12. Chapitre 12

**Rappele****Toi****Toujours**** de ****Moi**

_Remember Me Always_

Saya

**Chapitre**** 11-les petites ****filles ****perdues**

_Chapter 11-the little lost girls_

Kirika's fingers adeptly separated the different wires which had been twisted tightly. She let out a slow breath and snipped them. Just in time, Chloe's almost silent footsteps approached gently on the marble floor. It was time to move ahead.

She easily slipped down the hallway, through the shadows, and turned the corner. She noticed a rather large, burly man, dressed in black and attached a silencer to her gun. They were close enough that Chloe would hear it, but far enough that the younger girl might not be able to identify it. She quickly fired, head and chest and dragged the body into a nearby room before continuing on her way.

The red-head stopped, her ears perked. She thought she heard a gun, but she couldn't have been entirely sure. It had been so quiet…she shook her head, locks of red hair falling over her face, and continued on. There was no way it had been a gun, that would have meant that they knew she was here.

The Japanese girl hid, gun still clutched firmly in her small hands, in the same room where she had hidden the latest body. The room that was perfectly in her range of sight through the small crack through the door was where the target was. From her position, she would be able to easily come in and interfere if need be, if things were to go so badly. But she doubted that, she had faith in her partner. She had lived with Chloe long enough to trust the younger girl.

And yet…she couldn't help that sense of worry building up and weighing down on her chest.

Finally, small, soft footsteps and the rustling of a cloak echoed through the hall to the child's sensitive ears. A few moments later, shocking red hair came into view. Kirika took in a breath and waited in anticipation. What was this? What was wrong with her? She had never felt this before? Worry? Fear?

She didn't understand and she was completely sure that she didn't want to.

The younger girl slowly opened the door, her free hand reaching for her knife, and stepped in. Voices drifted toward Kirika's closet and her eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn't even bothered to check if there was a bodyguard stationed in the room with the target.

She rushed out without thinking and placed herself nearer the door for easier access to the room. "You're just a little girl," one of the voices said almost mockingly. It was the voice of the target, and the Japanese girl didn't like his tone.

But she held in her breath and waited. This was Chloe's moment to shine, she shouldn't ruin it. She should only intrude if there was danger. They were two halves of the same dark fate, she couldn't imagine life alone again. What was she thinking? This wasn't the time for such strange thoughts and it certainly was the first time they had ever occurred to her.

Maybe she would ask Altena. But no…doing so would prove that she had come along for Chloe's mission. She didn't want Chloe to find out, that would be the worst disappointment and the worst punishment.

The girl's sensitive ears picked up on the sounds of a fight, she heard the movements that she knew so well to be her other half's as well as ones that she didn't recognize. From the way heavy feet pressed against the floor, she assumed that they belonged to a rather large man who was probably built with a great deal of muscle. The obscenely rich tended to be the obscenely terrified and so had the most obscenely muscular bodyguards that they could find.

Those men were brutes with no finesse, no refinement. She and Chloe had technique, and most of all, they had each other. She heard a quiet cry that sounded as though it had come from the younger girl and instantly burst into the room, gun held before her to find the red-head sprawled on the ground and the two men with their lips curved into almost-smiles.

"Goodbye…" Kirika said as she pulled the trigger four times in rapid succession. Twice for each of the men, the kill shot and the security shot.

Altena was worried. Not because Kirika had gone on the mission out of concern for Chloe as they were the two who would become the black maidens, the Noir. What worried her was that Kirika had done so without any orders. In fact, she had broken orders by choosing to follow.

"I'm disappointed in you, Kirika," the blonde said rather sternly. She hated punishing the girls at this stage. It would make them more weary of her, possibly make them want to rebel. And Kirika was one to watch out for, she had progressed so far, especially in the time since the other sapling had found her way to the Manor.

The child remained silent with her friend standing beside her, though they were determinedly averting their gazes and staring at opposite corners of the room. "I'm sorry," she said, though the blonde felt as though the words were not directed at her. This child needed to be tamed, she was starting to become troublesome.

"I will have to punish you. I will give you no more missions until you have proven that you truly are sorry," the blonde said, her tone dismissive as the girls left the room in silence.

What was she to do? She couldn't let one little girl ruin all those years of careful planning. She couldn't become one of the black maidens herself, she needed them. They were pure, untainted, unstained despite what the lives that had been destroyed by their hands. She needed them and she couldn't afford to lose them.

No matter could be taken lightly. She sat at her desk and stared at the dying sapling. It should have withered long ago and yet it continued striving onward. Her thoughts were interrupted and she looked up sharply at a young woman who walked into the room. "I've heard news about a man travelling with a little girl whose name is Bouquet."

Although the young woman showed no outward sign of having heard the news, she was shaken. Should she be excited or worried? The sapling she didn't need, her eyes travelled to the withered one sitting in her office, the one that she had tossed aside was coming back and trying against all odds to live? Should she send her little ones to cut her down before she could get her bearings?

No, she would wait. She was good at waiting, and all things came with waiting patiently. She rested her elbows on the desk and smiled behind her hands. Yes, she would wait to see what became of this little sapling. Maybe she would be worth watching, after all.


End file.
